In March, we hosted Dr. Terry McIntosh who gave us a wonderful workshop and presentation on mosses. Here is a link to a slideshow made by James Holkko, thank-you for sharing this with us James! Moss Walk Slideshow

The Salt Spring Island Conservancy has successfully restored over 2 acres of new wetland habitat since acquiring the Blackburn Lake Nature Reserve. One of the monitoring tools we use to assess our success is a wildlife camera to see which critters are enjoying the new

The Coastal Scouler’s Catchfly, Silene scouleri spp. Grandis, is a hairy perennial in the Pink Family of flowering plants. It is named after the sticky hairs on its leaves that can trap small insects which try to steal nectar without pollinating the flowers. It is a Red-listed, Endangered species. This species is distinctive for its greenish-white to purplish striped flowers clustered in a narrow spike-like arrangement. The slender pale green leaves are hairy and grow in a rosette of basal leaves that are up to 20 cm long with paired opposite leaves gradually reducing in size up the stem. The whole plant can be 15-80 cm tall and grows erect. It is most likely insect pollinated. The fruit is a dark egg-shaped capsule containing numerous small greyish brown pimply seeds which ripen in September or October and drop from the plants in November.

Bombus occidentalis Once very common in western North America it is now very rare, found only in pockets of its former range. Distinct white striping on the lower abdomen. This is a federally threatened species. Read more about these bees here.

Sphaerocarpos texanus This small, thalloid, bright green branched liverwort is found on flat, lightly shaded soil. Usually by roadsides. The species is sexually dimorphic, with male plants usually 3–5 mm in diameter, females up to 12 mm in diameter. This species is red listed and found on Salt

This is a small snake, usually reddish-brown, with a thorn-like tip on the tail, a dark stipe across each eye, and black-and-white barring on the underside. When disturbed, the snake may burrow downward rather than slither away. This snake has been found in open areas, forest edges,